There were a few stories in particular that really stuck out to me from Cooper's book, Maps to Anywhere.
By Any Other Name was a great read. I loved the levity of the section. The opening, describing a young boy and his friends creating their own fun with a phone book and an empty afternoon, reminded me of a younger version of myself. The feeling that came over me after reading this was a combination of nostalgia and words that left me pondering my future. I never really thought about the meaning behind a name until I read this. I think we, as a society, take names for granted. We just accept them at face value and allow them to define a person, when in reality, it is the person that impressions the name. Cooper's allusion to Shakespeare's famous notion, 'A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet,' really opened my eyes. I hadn't really given thought to the effect the sound of an object on the way its perceived. His mention of limburger made me think of asparagus and cauliflower and other horrible sounding words that were reflected through the object itself. Then I concluded that the name was insignificant. The object doesn't change. If asparagus was called long-green-bumpies I would still detest them.
Capice left a great impression. The piece really displays the beauty that is language. The author depicts a time when he was in Italy and the events that occurred, only to reveal that the sole purpose of the words was to tell a story, that he had never been to Italy, he had never met the people he claims to have met, never taken an Italian class. This just really captures my belief on writing. I also think Capice in particular is the essence of the book and the title, Maps to Anywhere, is exemplified in this piece of writing because of the honesty of the author. Cooper does a wonderful job of leaving the reader with the sense that the words on the page can take him to far off places, really anywhere he wants to go.
Que será será had a profound effect on me as well. It was a great reminder to not sweat the small stuff and to live life to the fullest. Carpe Diem I am reminded by a movie I once saw. The story itself was short, yet eloquent and easy to identify with. I often wonder about my former classmates and the impression I left them with. Yet I am forced to remember that it does not do well to dwell in the past. After reading this I really felt like I had learned something.
Juice
Juice was a really different kind of read. It didn't read like a fiction story; I found it more
similar to a poetic non-fiction piece. This is most definitely due to the author's style and use of detail.
In the opening chapter, Translation, the speaker talks about her life as a child as tribe-like with each member of her village having a certain responsibility. As the chapter continues, the villagers begin to leave and, eventually, leave the speaker abandoned and wishing for anyone's return. She describes it as "[An] exodus of those who, in your mind, were extensions of yourself." As the speaker suffers through this harsh and dramatically described loneliness, the years become more meticulous, as she lists figures dealing with the time that everyone had left, the time since she spoke, and the inevitable death of the speaker, as well as being over-dramatic in stating the future tidal wave. Although overly dramatic for emphasis, the chapter, especially the closing line, "Things here slowly returning to slime and translation," speaks a lot about the importance of companionship and loneliness and the effects those ideas have on people.
The next chapter, Proportion Surviving, is where the book gets its title. Here, the author is obsessed with a specific brand of apple juice which has been discontinued due to a shortage of apples the speaker refers to as 'the crisis.' At first, nothing can shake her uneasiness nor her ambition to create awareness about this crisis, until she comes across a girl stacking boxes. The speaker is immediately awestruck, and the couple begins to date. During the time of their relationship, the speaker completely forgets about the crisis. I think the author's purpose in writing this is to demonstrate the importance of love and ability of refocusing one's attention. These are powerful abilities granted to us as people that we take for granted, yet they control us in every aspect of our lives.
'No Through Street' was quite a different story. The tone was more pessimistic than the previous sections, however the purpose was much more powerful. The speaker begins with a description of her street as an alley and, over the years, the street signs her sister began to create caused a lot of commotion and in the years the speaker lives away from home, the alley transforms into a busy street. Where the houses used to stand, businesses now reside. The speaker then goes into a few anecdotes regarding her sister and herself as young girls and about the importance of 'looking' at something. Then, she mentions her visit to her sister at a museum after she discovers her sister is painting a mural composed of the signs she has drawn over the years. This entire section is about reflection and acceptance. The speaker was estranged from her sister and deals with the fact that they are different people who don't really know or understand each other.
The last section. 'First Sleep,' was more abstract, yet more direct in message. I believe this section is about the speaker's mother and her death, and the speaker's coping process. She gets a phone call that wakes her from sleep, alerting her and causing her partner to wake. She then mentions old people 'getting up' and that one day, she herself will 'get up.' I believe this to be a euphemism for death. Overall, this chapter was more fragmented and seemed a lot more scattered than the previous chapters.
'Enjoy the Little Things'
Upon reading 'Morning News,' 'Walking the Baby to the Liquor Store,' and 'Survivors,'I noticed several similarities between them, the most outspoken being 'enjoy the little things.' This is a theme that is most evident in the three stories, though they are all a bit different.
'Morning News' is about this man who, at the hospital, discovers he is dying. He then decides to join his wife and buy a television. I think this action alone provides enough evidence to show how one should enjoy the small things in life. The speaker mentions his thoughts regarding death, saying that he should feel more adventurous and dangerous and more ambitious about the fact that he is dying, alluding to the desire to have dinner at the Eiffel Tower. However, I think the fact that the speaker does something as ordinary as buying a television set is a display of the inner thoughts we, as people, all have. Sure, if I found out I was to die soon I would love to think that I'd be able to do all of these amazing and breathtaking things, but in reality, the eloquence and intensity of those wishes is ill-fated. The likelihood that any of my wildest dreams would come true is slim to none. Thus, I find a kind of dark humour in this story. It pokes fun at the fact that everyone would think to do all of the fantastic things and breaks the barrier from dreamland into real life where the craziest thing one can do is purchase a large television.
'Walking the Baby to the Liquor Store' is my light-hearted. It details the author's struggle to write his current pieces, and yet the author is more concerned with taking his daughter to a liquor store. I think this piece s very influential and is a light in the dark, especially in today's world. The speaker wants to accomplish his tasks and finish his work, but his daughter is more important. The speaker states that he would rather give up an award for a book than miss one of these excursions to the liquor store with his daughter. I feel this notion is absent from a lot of families today. Often, one finds that parents are more adamant about their work and about material possessions than their children's lives. Though sad, I feel this is quite common. Still, the fact that the speaker would want to do something as menial as take his daughter to a store than be focused on his work, is quite astonishing.
'Survivors,' taking on a more serious tone, is quite despondent. It recounts thoughts made by a gay man whose lover is dying of AIDS. The man, also dying of AIDS himself, tells the reader that he wishes to die before his lover. At first glance, the reader interprets the speaker's complaints of having to deal with his lover's family, all of which have hated his lover's sexual orientation and everything to do with being gay, and having to take care of a parrot, as just that, complaints. However, delving deeper and shifting one's viewpoint from oneself to the point of view of the speaker, one can find more intricate and stronger meanings. I find the family to represent the tribulations and the oppression that gay people have to deal with. The speaker mentions that his lover's father '...tried to beat his sexual orientation out of him with a belt...' Even his father, one of the people on this earth who is supposed to love his child unconditionally, is judgmental and shows hate toward his son. The parrot represents the speaker's feelings. He mentions that he '...might even let it out of it's cage and set it free...' It seems to me that the parrot is the embodiment of the speakers feelings. If his lover were to die, I feel he would be trapped inside of himself, hence the bird in the cage. Hence, letting the parrot out of the cage, is a representation of the speaker getting over his lover's death.
Fluorescence
I greatly enjoyed reading Fluorescence by Jennifer K. Dick. Content-wise, it varies between ambiguous and crystal clear.
In the beginning, it seems more abstract. However, as you delve further into the book, you begin to read poems that spell
out exactly what inspired Dick to write. I pieced most of the puzzle after Two. In these writings, it became obvious that
the explosions Dick constantly referred to were not symbolic, but literal. I think she is retelling her account of terrorism in
several of her writings.
An Introduction
My name is Zack Samuels. I graduated from Allen Park High School where I was heavily involved with the theater department. I'm currently a sophomore here, at EMU. I was a Physics Research major, then I came to my senses and realized the world of mathematics has no place for me. Now, I am a Spanish Language major with a TESOL and Foundations in Translation minor. I am not enrolled in this class for the sheer fact that it fulfills a Gen. Ed. requirement. I am here because I want to be. I want to write. I want to read. I want to annotate an essay until the page is so cluttered with ink that it becomes barely legible. For some bizarre reason, I enjoy it.
Literary Findings
I have always been in a love/hate relationship with reading, the former generally dominating the latter with occasional confrontation. I have just finished Shadows in Flight by Orson Scott Card, the fifth installment of an unfinished sextet. While I am eagerly awaiting the publication of the final novel, I'm reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman, just one of the many books on my summer reading list. Edgar Allan Poe is tied with Robert Frost and Walt Whitman as my favorite poets. Poe for his shrouded air of mystery and for appealing to that dark abyss everyone has inside of them. Frost for his incredible imagery and for the way his poetry speaks to anyone who will listen. Whitman for his creative genius and for the way his words resonate with me. As far as authors, John Green and Ray Bradbury and Neil Gaiman. Though all of which I have recently discovered, I have devoured every word on every page I have read by these specific authors.
